ekbelt

Another vote for Depth Raider. We use 14lb balls and never have experienced any blowback at all.

One thing to keep in mind... 6-8 footers in Lake Michigan is WAAY different than 6-8 footers on Erie. That Erie chop is nothing to mess with, the wave have a much shorter period in the shallow waters of Lake Erie. We fish there 4-5 times a summer and whenever it kicks up we just head to the river to finish the day of fishing. It's not worth messing with. I know a few people who have swamped boats out there, one was a 20' champion bass boat. He had to to have the Coastguard come rescue him. In our 18' Lund I'll fish Lake Michigan in 5-6 footers no problem, but Erie with the same wave height makes me really nervous. The waves are just too close together.

Looks like the price has come down a bit...900 on sale at Cabelas. I think I have around $1500 into it actually. Paid 1099.99 for it last spring, then around 250 for two group 29 batteries (group 27 work too) and then 150 for a dual bank on board charger. Worth every penny though... Use it for all the types of fishing we do: salmon, walleye, perch. Ended up selling the old trolling motor on craigslist for 350, that helped a little.

Yes, Upgraded to an Ipilot last year (V2- 70lb thrust - 60" shaft). We walleye fish in the Detroit river and Erie too, so it was more for that, but we have it set for salmon trolling with the big motor for thrust now too. It is the best thing ever--no more driving the boat. It makes going fishing with 2 guys way less work and more enjoyable too, I even think we end up catching more fish. I fix the outboard with a bungee cord so it doesnt move and use the big motor for thrust. The ipilot is set at 30%-40% up front and just used for steering. We've had it out in all conditions last year it really holds a course well--even 3-4 foot waves. Get some good batteries and an onboard charger and it will make things easier as well. We easily get a whole long day of fishing in on one charge though. I promise you will not be dissapointed if you get one, just make sure to get the 60" shaft model so you dont have to worry about it coming out of the water in big waves. Actually, see the remote hanging from my neck on my avatar? That's the Ipilot remote

Have an 18' boat and opted for the 3 spot pedestal's as well. It works well. Maybe someday I'll add tree's if I come across a good deal but for now the pedestals work just fine. Not even sure we need more rod holders, I have 4 on each rigger, 3 for the pedestals and a single in the middle for a grand total of 15---plus rod holder storage up front for another 4 (19 if you include those).

I fish on a 18' lund and have 8' taloras, they work very nice. I'm not sure I would want to go any shorter but that is just my preference.

Thanks! They've really come down on price now too, you can pick them up for 70-80 bucks.

Anyone ever setup or use a VSR - voltage sensing relay? Sounds like its the newest version of a battery isolator but the nice thing is it doesnt draw voltage. http://www.bepmarine.com/home-mainmenu-8/product-269/125-amp-voltage-sensitive-relay-vsr- I want to set one up between the cranking / house battery so I don't have to worry about charging the house battery at all next year.

Try Triplefish, its great line and a bit cheaper than the competitors.

I've been using glow in the dark shrink tubing and shrink it on with a heat gun. I made a little jig to hold the mylar back, if you don't you'll melt it with the heat gun. They hold up great and its quick and easy.

I've tried some of these apps on my phone and the problem I had with it is that my battery would only last like 2-3 hrs using the app--just not practical. It works to quick check something out, but when fishing all day long it just didnt work well. I'm going to have to check that geogarge app out for the Ipad. I've always been a fan of that site to look for new fishing holes.

For what its worth Furuno has always made excellent products... would need to lookup reviews on their autopilots to be sure. Installing them is pretty straight forward, calibrating can be a trick. Also need a good low, center spot for the fluxgate compass in order for it to work well.

Isn't culling legal as it relates to the DNR? In bass tournaments you can have 5 in your box, still fish, and swap out smaller fish if you catch a bigger one... Granted no one puts great lakes fish in a livewell so chances are you'd be tossing back a floater. Although lets say you are fishing for your last fish... have 16 rods out and you get your last one on. Then in the process of pulling lines you get two more on and just release them when the come in?

This explains it in detail, if I'm reading it correctly its open Jan 1 - Oct 31. Out of Holland we're fishing the MM 6-8 zones : Jan. 1 - Oct. 31 (splake open for the entire year) http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/table1-GLtrout-splake_273185_7.pdf

Here is my small boat setup (17.5 Lund), hopefully you get get the idea. This is more of an August setup, we adjust based on how deep the fish are. Deepest rods go to the inside of the spread and the shallower they run the further up the boat they are. I edited the picture and put red marks on all the rod holders. This is repeated on the other side of the boat. My low diver is up a little since my diver rods are the same length. This makes sure the high diver clears the low diver easily. It took a few years and tangles to get perfected, but we have zero issues now and it works well.

I run a 17.5 Lund too and we run 2 riggers, 4 dipsys, and up to 6 boards (depends how many people are along... usually just 4 though). Dipsys we run wire and 50lb red power pro. Wires are inside and are walker 124's set on 1. Powerpro dipsys are walker 105's set on 3. It works really well, we caught a ton of fish on the dipsys this year.

My vote is for Raymarine. I have an A65 plotter and a DS600 sounder and they are top notch. It's worth the extra $$ in my opinion.

I could be wrong, but it's my understanding that the Military uses different satellites or methods for their GPS purposes so this may or may not effect their equipment. They originally made civilian use caculate with error so it wasn't quite as exact. Then WAAS was released to the civilians, which is what the military was using before. WAAS gives a much more accurate location than the traditional method. The department of defense still runs all these satellites (including civilian), you'd think they would be all over this to make sure it keeps working.

I'm not dead set on the fact that the clearity of fluorocarbon over clear mono leaders is a major deal--I have a hard time arguing we get more bites running fluorocarbon. I think some of the other properties make a bigger difference, especially abrasion resistance. Fly leaders take a beating and they hold up way better if you have fluorocarbon. Also, fluorocarbon on the long leaders (copper/lead/dipsys) make a big difference when the fish runs in the wire diver or downrigger wire at the boat. Sometimes the stretch in clear mono has its advantages too. We run Triplefish as well, its a great line. I run it mainly for abrasion resistance and we lose less fish and the line holds up way better than clear mono.

Already found em at a differnet shop. Lost a cannon ball on Monday (don't ask for the details... ) and need to get a new 14lb cannon ball, blacks release, and tru-track terminator clip. Couldn't find the tru-tracks anywhere. I found Mac Baits had 2 in stock today so I went down and picked both of them up.

From previous experience I would suggest splicing in a piece of 4-5 ft 30lb mono between your braid and copper. It's a easier for the planer boards and also I've had the braid break at the albright knot enough times to piss me off. Braid doesn't stand up to abrasion too well. I havent had a problem with the mono to copper knot size, but I run the okuma copper rods and also upgraded my 55's with the big line guides.

Don't you hate it when you drive all the way to the tackle shop and they don't have what you need in stock? I know its the height of the season and demand is high, but from a tackle shop owner wouldn't that mean its also the best time to cash in? I guess that's why I do most of my shopping online...

I also have a 2 unit setup-- Raymarine A60 for the plotter and Raymarine DS600 for the graph. Can't go wrong getting good electronics you won't regret it.

I like whites and greens. Try to match the bait to the diver color, greens always go with the green discs and everything else goes with the white.